Well the tour started out poor but turned out pretty good. We were picked up at our hotel in the morning by a jeep to take us to where the days activities were going to take place. This jeep ride was classed as our jeep safari. Not really what we'd imagined, but never mind. It took us to the other side of the island to a sort of outdoor complex where nearly all the activities were going to be. Me and Sarah had pictured being drove all over the island to different locations but I suppose doing it this way saved time and money for the company.
When we arrived we were told that there was no thai boxing on today because one of the boxers was at the hospital. We then saw an elephant show. It's pretty crazy how well trained the elephants were. They'd trained them to do handstands. During the show one of the elephants started having a piss in the background. It's c*** was bigger than me.
We were then taken to see a monkey show. The monkeys had their tails cut short, I'm not sure why, maybe to stop them from escaping. I definitely enjoyed seeing monkeys in the wild having fun, more than being chained up performing tricks.
Next was an ox-cart ride. I'm not really sure why anyone would want to have an ox-cart ride, I suppose I can say I've had one, but other that, it wasn't that good.
So after we'd had a lap around the complex in the ox-cart it was time for our cooking class. And on the menu today...Papaya salad. Our lesson lasted about 5min. It involved our tour guide putting about 8 things into a mortar and pestle, bashing it up, then handing it out. I thought it was nice, but it wasn't everyone's cup of tea.
We then were taken for our elephant ride. We walked around the same dirt track as the ox-cart, then did a bit of off roading, we were on an elephant after all. The elephants were so dry, they looked liked they would have enjoyed a really good wash. But all they got was a whack to the head if they strayed off course. When the ride was coming to an end Becki dropped her camera case on the floor, the owner then shouted something out, and the elephant picked up the case and passed it back, the clever thing. It probably would have been hit if it didn't pick it up.
We were then shown how to extract rubber from a rubber tree, which was different. Then we left the complex in the jeep and were taken to a restaurant near the island of Koh Tan. We ate all sorts of nice food; deep fried barracuda, thai chicken curry, calamari and shrimp sweet n sour and plenty of rice.
We then set sail to Koh Tan. When we arrived we were blown away by how clear the water was and how white the sand was, it looked like a postcard island. Our tour guide told me to put the ladders out, so I picked them up, but they slipped out of my wet hands and fell onto my toes. I cut my toe next to my big toe (index toe). It didn't seem too bad, so we got off the boat and went snorkelling.
There defiantly is 'plenty of fish in the sea'. We saw all sorts; spotty ones, stripy ones, long ones, small ones, triangle ones, multicoloured ones, loads.
When I got out of the sea my toe was pouring with blood. I could see that the cut was right where my flip flops would rub, gutted.
We then were taken to an impressive 80m waterfall. We swam at the bottom of it and took pictures, the water was freezing.
We then headed towards the magic garden. This was a site up in the mountains where someone had brought lots of nice sculptures. We were then meant to be taken to the highest spot on the island for a breath taking view, but one of the roads was shut so we just drove back into town and had a look at a beach, it was still a nice view.